When Madeleine L'Engle won the Newbery Prize for A Wrinkle in Time, she ended her speech with the thought that a book "can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe."

NPR's Backseat Book Club pick for September is just such a book. In Wonder, R.J. Palacio tells the story of 10-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with such a serious facial deformity that children and adults avert their eyes or twist their faces in disgust when they first see him. He's a tough, sweet kid who's been home-schooled and protected by his close friends and family, and Wonder follows his entry into the rough-and-tumble world of kids who aren't accustomed to Auggie.

As always, it's your questions that make NPR's Backseat Book Club special. You can send us your questions or comments for R.J. Palacio, or tweet us @nprbackseat.

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